Hyatt makes quiet move that threatens customer experience | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

Hyatt Hotels Corporation dates back to 1957, when Jay Pritzker first purchased the original Hyatt House Motel.

Obviously, the Hyatt brand has expanded rapidly from its humble beginnings when it owned just one property. In fact, by 2023, more than 1,300 hotels and all-inclusive properties carried the Hyatt name.

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These hotels are spread across 76 different countries and exist on six different continents.

Hyatt offers a variety of hotel offerings, from luxury resorts to extended-stay options and family-friendly hotels. It has also committed to providing pleasant interactions between staff members and customers.

According to the company’s website, Hyatt is focused on creating a culture that “empowers every individual to be his or her best, and such authentic connection inspires the way we care for each other and for our guests.”

Recent news suggests that the hotel is not exactly living up to this principle, however. In fact, Hyatt has made a drastic decision that is likely to make customer service much worse for those interested in staying at the hotel chain, or even those who need help solving an issue.

Hyatt makes a big change with its customer service staff.

Image source&colon; Shutterstock

Hyatt’s money-saving move could have serious consequences for customers

Recent reports indicate that Hyatt abruptly terminated the entirety of its remaining U.S. customer service staff that offered telephone support. Around 300 customer service agents in the U.S. were let go overnight, receiving just 24 hours of notice before finding out they no longer had jobs.

This mass termination left only around 35 total U.S. customer service workers to offer phone support. Hyatt also reportedly let go most of the U.S.-based chat team as well, leaving around 36 total agents. And 18 managers were among those who were laid off.

The My Hyatt Concierge team has survived the mass layoffs at this point, but some reports indicate its managers were let go, leaving it unclear who team members would actually report to.

Hyatt acknowledged the layoffs, although it also downplayed the scope of its workforce reduction.

“To support Hyatt’s continued growth and success in the most effective ways, we realigned our Global Care Center (GCC) operations in response to the evolving nature of guest inquiries and shifting business needs. With this evolution came a reorganization in our Americas GCC operations with a staffing reduction of approximately 30% across our guest services and support teams,” a Hyatt spokesperson said.

Customer service is likely to worsen with this change

Of course, Hyatt is not abandoning customer service altogether. Instead, the call center work will be diverted offshore.

The largest team of offshore representatives will be in the Philippines, and there is also a team in El Salvador, which is expected to grow in light of the new U.S. layoffs.

Reports indicate that wages for El Salvador call center representatives are approximately $400 per month for full-time work six days per week.

Although this is above the average local wage, it still means that customers who call Hyatt will now be talking with representatives in a faraway country who are making very low wages.

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This may boil down to issues being handled by representatives with less experience. Call quality may also be inconsistent, since some callers who have talked to offshore Hyatt agents in the past indicated they had difficulty hearing due to the crowing roosters in the background.

As Hyatt makes this bold move to cut its service costs, it’s likely that customers will ultimately pay the price.